Daphnis Pulls a Jagged Line Through Saturn’s Rings

Saturn ’s flyspeck moon Daphnis orbits a gap in the A Ring , do small waves with its gravity . Now , as the gasolene behemoth approaches its equinox , the Cassini probe has captured the wave on camera for the first time .

Daphnis , which is just eight km in diameter , is one of Saturn ’s shepherd moons , tracing its orbit inside the Keeler gap in Saturn ’s main anchor ring . It appears as a rowlock prick of lighter , but its gravity is sufficient to pull the ring ’s edges out of their planer , form undulating vertical structures . Although stargazer have predicted the wave through pretense , they have never before been catch on moving picture . But as Saturn approaches it equinox — an event that occurs once every 15 Earth years — the annulus are illuminated in such a agency that shadow from the waving are visible on the A Ring , allow Cassini to photograph the phenomenon for the first time .

Images fromCassini Equinox MissionandCICLOPSvia International Space Fellowship .

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